Joe Percoco, left, is seen with Gov. Andrew Cuomo in this file photo. Percoco, one of the governor's closest aides for decades, is facing corruption-related charges in the latest scandal to rock Albany.(Photo11: Associated Press)

ALBANY - Gov. Andrew Cuomo's longtime former aide and most-trusted confidant will stand trial beginning Monday, kicking off a string of five corruption trials in the next six months that threaten to expose the underbelly of how the state Capitol operates.

He will face seven felony charges when he stands trial with COR executives Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi and former CPV executive Peter Galbraith Kelly at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in Manhattan in front of Judge Valerie Caproni beginning at 10 a.m. Monday.

The trial could shine a harsh spotlight on Cuomo's administration at the start of a crucial election year, when the Democratic governor — who is enjoying his best poll numbers in four years — is set to seek a third term in November.

"It's really impossible to know what the impact will be," said Steve Greenberg, a pollster at Siena College. "It's fair to say it's unlikely to be helpful in any way to the governor. The question is: Will it be neutral? Is it a little negative? A lot negative? That's what time will tell us."

The charges

Percoco faces two counts each of extortion, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and solicitation of bribes, along with one count of conspiracy to commit extortion. All are federal felonies.

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CPV had been pushing to build a natural-gas-fired power plant in Orange County.

In exchange for the payments, the U.S. Attorney's Office alleges Percoco took several actions on CPV's behalf, including pressuring the state Department of Environmental Conservation to arrange a deal with New Jersey to allow one of CPV's plants to purchase millions of dollars in emissions credits.

Percoco also worked to try to obtain a long-term agreement that would have required a state authority to purchase power from the planned Orange County plant, prosecutors say.

Syracuse developer

Joseph Percoco, center, exits the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in Manhattan following a hearing in 2017.(Photo11: Craig Ruttle, AP)

Prosecutors allege COR Development paid Percoco $35,000 in bribes in exchange for favors, including arranging a raise for Aiello's son, who worked for Cuomo; freeing up a state grant for a project the company was building; and blocking a labor-peace agreement that would have cost the company significant money.

Howe, who counted COR, CPV and the SUNY Polytechnic Institute as clients, has already pleaded guilty to federal charges and is cooperating with the federal government. His lengthy trail of emails with Percoco and his clients is expected to be a major part of the prosecution's evidence.

All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty and have maintained their innocence.

Percoco has argued that there was nothing untoward about the payments, in part because he was off the government payroll when some came in.

He left his government job for much of 2016 to manage the governor's successful re-election campaign.

Federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for New York's southern district maintain otherwise.

When charges were first filed in 2016, then-U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara accused Percoco of being "on the take."

“Today’s charges shine a light on yet another sordid side of the show-me-the-money culture that has so plagued Albany," Bharara said at the time.

Close scrutiny

There's little doubt Cuomo's administration will be subject to close scrutiny during the trial.

Potential jurors are being asked to fill out an extensive, 22-page questionnaire during the selection process, questioning their knowledge of the case and a lengthy list of people whose names may come up during what is expected to be a multi-week trial.

Many of the names have close ties to Cuomo, with more than 50 having worked for Cuomo or his campaign at some time.

They include Cuomo himself and his father, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, whom Percoco and Howe once worked for.

Many of the names on the list were prominent members of Cuomo's cabinet, including former Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy and former DEC Commissioner Joseph Martens, as well as a slew of top aides including Bill Mulrow, Howard Glaser, Jim Malatras and Larry Schwartz.

Jurors are being asked if they, members of their family or close friends "know or have/had any dealings with" the list of individuals, which also include people with ties to the developers on trial.

Cuomo himself said he is not expected to be called to testify.

More trials

Percoco's trial kicks off a busy year in the courts for key Capitol figures.

In May, former SUNY Poly President Alain Kaloyeros — whom Cuomo trusted to lead many of his major economic-development efforts — will face bid-rigging charges along with Aiello, Gerardi and a pair of Buffalo developers. He's accused of steering the bid for major projects to COR and Buffalo-based contractor LPCiminelli.

Organizations that advocate for government reform say the slate of trials speaks to the need for tougher corruption laws in New York.

The groups — Reinvent Albany, Common Cause/NY, the League of Women Voters, Citizens Union and the New York Public Interest Research Group — issued a joint statement earlier this month calling for the passage of new ethics laws, including a series of strict restrictions on "pay to play" by state vendors.

"The defendants in these cases are entitled to the presumption of innocence," the groups wrote. "However, these trials are the latest installment in a seemingly unending series of investigations, indictments, and convictions into the corrupt actions of dozens of public officials."

JCampbell1@Gannett.com

Jon Campbell is a correspondent for the USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.